Common · Nature
Cauca guan
Species of bird
The Cauca guan (Penelope perspicax) is a bird in the chachalaca, guan and curassow family, Cracidae. It is a large guan, and like most guans leads a mostly arboreal life in humid forests, where it forages for fruit and leaves. The Cauca guan is endemic to Colombia's Cauca River valley.
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In Spanish the bird is called pava caucana. The bird was first formally described in 1911 by the American ornithologist Outram Bangs, based on the type specimen collected on 5 June 1908 by Mervin G. Palmer at San Luis in the Bitaco Valley of western Colombia. All four of the major taxonomic authorities recognize Cauca guan as a species. The genus name Penelope derives from the Ancient Greek penelops - a type of duck which was said to have rescued Penelope after she was thrown into the sea. The species epithet perspicax is Latin for sharp-sighted. The species is monotypic - no subspecies are recognized. These are large birds, measuring c.75–85 cm in length, with the typical plump body, long tail and small head of the Cracidae species.
Text: Wikipédia, CC BY-SA 4.0. · Image: Félix Uribe from Rionegro, Antioquia, Colombia (CC BY-SA 2.0) ·